Day 9: Canandaigua to Liverpool, New York 70 miles

A cool morning that turned into a warm, sunny day.  A very good ride.  I started out alone, but wound up riding the last 55 miles with Gene Emborsky, one of the ride leaders.  Gene is a fast rider and I spent much of the day trying to keep up with him.  We rode well and got in early, for a change!  The pictures will tell the rest of the day's story.

Seneca Lake in Geneva, New York.  As we hopscotched from Finger Lake to Finger Lake, we had beautiful views like this on our right all through the day.  Gene stopped by while I was taking this picture to suggest we ride together.

We passed through a lot of history on today's ride.  The town of Waterloo, just past Geneva, was the "birthplace of Memorial Day."  Not sure how that came to be.  We then rode through Seneca Falls, birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement in the United States.

The Erie Canal, in Seneca Falls.  The Canal will be our companion for the next two days as well.

Our one Sag Stop today was at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  At the Visitor's Center, one of the Nature Guides had his telescope trained a quarter mile away across the vast marshlands on a muskrat mount, with a bald eagle sitting atop the mound, ostensibly waiting for lunch to arrive.

A single-lane bridge over the canal leading to Lake Onondaga.  

When we got into our hotel, we noticed much of the parking lot filled with vintage cars.  Apparently, the Syracuse National, an annual vintage car show and rally, is taking place down in Syracuse this weekend.  Given the sounds outside right now, I doubt many of us in the cycling community will be sleeping soundly today.  Motors are revving and people are outside partying along the line of motels on this road.

All five motels along this road are packed with vintage car owners, all showing off their prized beauties.  Apparently, the thing to do here is to ride up and down the street with fellow owners lined up along the roadway in their lounge chairs, just admiring each other's cars.